RE: seed starting and vermiculite
- Subject: RE: seed starting and vermiculite
- From: M* D*
- Date: Tue, 26 Mar 2002 09:20:16 -0800
Claire,
Vermiculite has not been banned in Oregon, nor is it likely to be since the
nursery industry is the state's largest.
I have always used very fine peat with fine perlite and sand to start seeds.
The only time I ever tried starting seeds in vermiculite was after a Begonia
Society program where the speaker insisted it was the way to start very tiny
seeds like Begonias. I decided to try it with some very rare and choice
Begonia species seeds ......I wouldn't recommend it. :( For starters, the
tiny seeds fall down between the "kernels" of vermiculite and don't get the
light they need to germinate. I went back to my old tried and true mix used
for every type of seeds. However I don't know why we bother with all the
different formulas and mixes when EVERYTHING will sprout in a gravel
pathway! I think it would be a much more efficient use of my time to just
sprinkle all the seeds I want to start in my paths and wait to see what
comes up! :)
Marilyn
Marilyn Dube'
Natural Designs Nursery
Portland, Oregon
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-perennials@hort.net [o*@hort.net] On Behalf
Of ECPep@aol.com
Sent: Monday, March 25, 2002 9:37 AM
To: perennials@hort.net
Subject: seed starting and vermiculite
If anyone has been shopping for vermiculite in NYS this spring and has not
found it in the stores, it has been banned for sale in NYS.
I picked up what I wanted in Massachusetts not knowing I could not buy it in
NY. While musing on which seeds can cross which borders and who decides
what
plants can come to us other things are disappearing.
Vermiculite is banned in other countries and various parts of the US so I
found with a quick look at Google. You may not want to use it indoors after
reading all of this.
I have used vermiculite for seed starting for so many years, I could not
begin to remember when I first purchased it. We are back to cooking soils
in
the oven!
Seeds and starting seeds which was spring's joy have so many problems
attached. There are problems with peat and spaghnum moss - what is everyone
using now - that is if you live in a state that is not banning it.
Claire Peplowski
NYS z4
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